Friday, March 2, 2012

underreported struggles 59

The Wixarika people, after campaigning for seventeen straight months to protect their sacred territory, have been granted a major reprieve by the federal courts in Mexico. As of this moment, the intention to exploit natural resources through 38 mineral concessions in the sacred territory of Wirikuta is suspended; and no further mining permits can be granted as long as the core of the matter (the Wixarika'a concerns) remains unresolved.
A Nyoongar Tent Embassy was established in response to a Billion dollar proposal by the Western Australia government that would force the Nyoongar People to surrender their land title, permanently. Many of those involved in the Embassy are local Indigenous activists who just finished commemorating the 40th anniversary of the iconic Aboriginal Tent Embassy in front of the Old Parliament House in Canberra. The City of Perth, however, considers the Nyoongar Tent Embassy to be illegal. On at least three separate occasions they've tried to shut it down.

Malaysian communities have asked the Malaysia government to immediately halt their plans to build twelve new hydroelectric dams in Sarawak and to hold a referendum on dam construction. The call arrived on the heels of an important conference that was organized by the newly formed Save Rivers Network. Participants at the conference similarly called for an end to the dams, which threaten to displace tens of thousands of Indigenous peoples. Conference members also called for government to start promoting micro-hydro, solar, wind and biomass energy generation instead of mega-dams.

The Enxet community of Yakye Axa--after living next to a major highway for nearly two decades without access to water, regular food supplies or land to cultivate--can finally return to a normal way of life in southeastern Paraguay. A new land deal between Paraguayan authorities and a land owner ensures the long-displaced community can to return to their ancestral lands.